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Big USA 2020 Cruise Update : New Cruising Plans and Protocols
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Jan 28, 2025
The shape of cruising out of the United States in the coming months of 2020 has become clearer through a series of announcements and revelations by the cruise lines, including the world’s largest cruise line (Carnival) finally going public on what cruise passengers can expect on their ships when they start sailing, adding to what Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise have announced for their lines. I explore and pick the announcements and what it means for cruise passengers hoping to cruise out of USA ports in 2020. BECOME A TIPS FOR TRAVELLERS MEMBER ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Become a Channel Member to get perks: https://www.tipsfortravellers.com/Join Become a Patron on Patreon and get perks: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers BUY MY CRUISE-THEMED T-SHIRTs --------------------------------------------------------- Check out my T-Shirt range: http://bit.ly/TFTStore FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA --------------------------------------------------- Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/garybembridge Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tipsfortravellers Instagram: http://www.instgram.com/garybembridge LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bembridge TikTok: @garybembridge
View Video Transcript
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just after the ceos of the three largest
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cruise groups
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publicly said there's over 90 chance of
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cruisers running
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out of usa ports in 2020 they canceled
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all cruises into december and for some
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of their lines well into 2021 so what is
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going on
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what should cruisers be expecting and
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why the shape of cruising
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out of the united states in the coming
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months has become significantly
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clearer through a series of
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announcements and revelations
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by the cruise lines including the
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world's largest cruise line carnival
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finally going public on what cruise
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passengers can expect
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on their ships when they start sailing
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again
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let's explore and unpick the key
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developments you need to know about and
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i will discuss
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what they mean for you and us as
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cruisers
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first a quick reminder the no sale order
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in the united states waters was extended
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to the 31st of october by the cdc
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this was after an intervention by the
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white house coronavirus task force
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who overruled their reported plan to
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extend it
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to the end of february 2021.
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the plan was for the task force led by
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vice
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president mike pence to meet with the
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heads of the cruise lines to discuss
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and hopefully agree protocols and plans
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to resume
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sailing however of course this was
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postponed following the
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outbreaks in the white house now at the
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time of recording no news
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on when this will take place so the time
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scale on discussions
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is less clear now as the lions have said
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it will take around 60 days that's two
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months
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from approval to sale that's because
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they have to get ships in place they
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have to get them ready to sell
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it should be no surprise that they have
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all council cruisers
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to the end of november for now
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but there are some key steps and plans
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announced meantime
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that i really think you need to
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understand in my view
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one welcome and very important
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development has been confirmed clear
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which is the international cruise line
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association announced on the 6th of
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october that
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all their member lines will have testing
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of crew
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and passengers as a requirement before
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boarding
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their statement said clear ocean cruise
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line members worldwide have agreed to
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conduct 100
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testing of passengers and crew on all
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ships with the capacity to carry 250 or
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more persons
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with a negative test required for any
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embarkation
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now clear members include all the
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carnival group so lines like
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carnival princess cunard holland america
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and
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seabourn or the royal caribbean group so
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royal caribbean
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celebrity azamara silversea or the
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norwegian group
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so norwegian cruise line oceania regent
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seven seas
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lions like crystal are also members
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viking are not members so we will wait
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to hear for their announcement on this
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but i
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i'm guessing they will follow it
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ensuring that virus
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free people are boarding ships has to be
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a key element
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to try and keep ships clear of the virus
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entering the ship
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as much as testing will allow of course
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now testing
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has worked very successfully so far for
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the european lines like msc cruisers
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costa and others that have used it as
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they started cruising again
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in europe though it's not clear what
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form the testing will be and who pays
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for it
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yet now some lines such as saga
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in the uk they've announced that they
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will actually be doing two-stage testing
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with guests having to do a test before
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they depart to join the ship
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and another peer side before boarding
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now this
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is covered within the affairs on saga so
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we need to look out for the exact
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testing approach
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as each line announces specific
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protocols and of course
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importantly any impact on their fares
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now in europe testing has been included
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within the fares the next
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wrath of announcements that came out
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will definitely
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not please a section of cruise
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passengers who are hoping for a return
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to cruising how it was i have to say
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that i am okay with all of the changes
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as a way to be able to start cruising
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again
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so what exactly are the changes now in a
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recent video
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carnival's new chief operating officer a
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man called neil
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palumba he took the role after working
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in fact on a successful return
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to service of the italian costa line in
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europe now he laid out
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five things that cruisers should expect
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when carnival
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is given the okay to sail these are
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broadly
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the same as those already announced by
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the
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royal caribbean and norwegian cruise
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line healthy sailing panel
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for their respective lines these changes
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will be
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as follows first of all reduced capacity
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now this will enable
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distancing freeing up cabins to be set
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aside for isolation
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and quarantining if needed now carnival
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have not yet said
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how much capacity will be cut by now in
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europe we've seen ships only putting
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around
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60 percent of their usual capacity on
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sale per
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cruise secondly face masks
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and physical distancing now this will be
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a deal breaker for some
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certainly based on the comments i get on
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my channel and i've also seen on
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different cruise message boards
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masks will be required on carnival group
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lines
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royal caribbean group lines norwegian
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group lines and also
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i've seen lines like crystal are going
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to require them as well they will be
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worn
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inside when social distancing is not
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possible
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there will be physical distancing in all
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venues with limits on numbers
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at any one time in bars and theaters and
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also
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requiring people to dine in household
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groups for example so those kind of
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things
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you should expect now many cruisers have
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said they do not want to pay to cruise
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when they need to wear masks and will
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wait for a future date when this can
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finally be removed and you may be one of
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those
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thirdly only carnival cruise line
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excursions so cruisers will
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only be able to step off the ship
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imports on cruise line excursions there
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will be
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no self-touring or visiting shops and
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bars and so on
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again this is also in the raw caribbean
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and norwegian protocols
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and are included in other independent
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line of protocols like saga crystal and
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so on
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so cruise line only excursions has also
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been a source of concern for many
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with what may be a large number of
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people simply again based on comments
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and polls conducted by sites like cruz
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critic
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so they may hold of cruising while this
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is required and you may again be one of
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those people that wants to
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wait we're all of course waiting to see
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what these are going to cost
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now in europe the costs of excursions
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has been reduced and various packages
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have been sold
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the fourth key change is enhanced
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medical facilities as we should expect
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going to be put in place as well the
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fifth change which is
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significantly enhanced cleaning and
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disinfecting
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now the next area to note is in the
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nature and form of the actual cruises
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that will take place when cruising
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returns in the us of a
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now many cruisers seem to be expecting
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the cruises they've booked
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and in fact are still being advertised
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as being for sale as
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running when the lines start cruising
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again out of the u.s
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this is not going to be the case based
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on what the lions are doing
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and what the ceos are saying you should
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be ready
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for new cruises that are short limited
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itinerary cruises
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and this happened in europe as well so
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let's see why
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i say this now first of all when
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carnival
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cancelled all the cruises out of the usa
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ports except for miami and port
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canaveral
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for november and december the
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announcement made it clear
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they could not confirm that the cruisers
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from those ports
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would even run as advertised they
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offered in fact people cruising
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from those ports the ability to cancel
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with no penalties
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now carnival has said they will focus
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their initial return
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on those two ports miami and port
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canaveral but stressed
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they might not be able to sell from
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those ports in november and december so
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the carnival president christine duffy
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said and i quote as we have said
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throughout this pause our return to
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operations will be gradual
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and phased in so very important to note
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secondly building on that richard feyne
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who runs the royal caribbean group
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so that's royal caribbean celebrity
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silversea azamara
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he said in the last week in a travel
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agent update that they
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hope to be able to do this year a series
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of non-revenue sailings during
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which they can get the crew trained on
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the protocols but importantly and i'm
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quoting
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and then only with the ship or two at
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first
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we hope to start sailing again it will
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be short cruises at first with limited
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destination
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and controlled shore excursions from
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there they will
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assuming things go as planned expand we
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won't rush so again
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big strong words around how cruising is
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going to be limited
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and different thirdly ports and
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countries of course need to be open
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and willing to accept cruise ships this
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is going to be a challenge for many of
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the countries that cruisers
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out of the usa ports call on there are
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many limits
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unlikely to change soon lots of
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countries still limiting
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accepting usa residents moving between
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borders is difficult it's tightening as
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soon as we see
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second waves emerging in many places and
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so it's even more difficult
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for lions as they travel further afield
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so we've seen lines like azamara and
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seabourn they've cancelled right into
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spring
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2021 and lines like celebrity have
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cancelled their asia and australian
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winter 2020-2021 season
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whilst the resumption of cruising seems
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to be more likely than just a few weeks
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ago in the us
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and there are many hurdles to overcome
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and be addressed it seems
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there is agreement on what form the
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protocols will be which are largely
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largely mirroring what has been tried in
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europe they will be new
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and short and limited cruises on a few
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ships out of one or two ports
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this also means of course that the lions
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can ensure people booking those
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cruises they're aware and they're
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willing to accept and follow
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all these new protocols the key of
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course is still getting agreement with
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the cdc
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and the politicians to it seems to be
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able to start sailing so what do you
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think
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about these developments and if cruisers
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resume along these lines in the us
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will you be looking to book and go
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remember i have loads more episodes of
10:13
tips for travellers packed with cruising
10:14
updates and tips
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so why don't you go and enjoy another
10:18
one of those
10:19
right now
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